[Fido969]

Planning the funeral for my Dad, the Catholic church was very particular on the state and completeness of the body.

Then they tear apart the corpses of saints and run around worshipping the parts. It makes no sense to me.

[Hieronymus]

It boils down to a belief in the goodness of the body and the resurrection of the dead.

In general, the body is honoured by being kept together and not by being discarded as something with which we are done. Placing it to rest to await the resurrection is appropriate. There is recognition that most bodies of the dead will in the end need to be reconstituted, but that of itself is not the way it was meant to be.

If a particular person who has gone on to their heavenly reward is very active in the consciousness of the Church, it may be appropriate to honour them and recognize the eventual glorification of their body by spreading their body, even in its unglorified state, around, provided that it continues to be honoured. I wouldn’t want to have the bodies of my great-grandparents with me, even though I honour them in a way.

On the other hand, sitting about three feet away from me at this moment are small bone fragments from St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and St. Monica in one small reliquary, and fragments from St. Philip Neri, St. Lawerence of Brindisi, and St. Jerome (Hieronymus in Latin) in a second. They are important spiritual patrons for me, intercessors, and friends. I believe on the last day the fragments will end up in their proper places and be glorified. In the mean time, these six saints in heaven think of me much more and more effectively than I think of them—though I do think of them, and strive to imitate Christ as they imitated Christ.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Saints, Aquinas and Augustine are the greatest theologians in the Church, Monica was Augustine’s mother and a huge spiritual warrior, Lawrence B and Jerome are the two doctors of the Church who are the greatest specialists in Scripture, and Philip Neri is another huge spiritual warrior, who in various ways is tied into St. Jerome. Given my own profession and my own personal life, these are awesome examples for me on how to imitate Christ.

[Vermont Lt]

I’ve landed half a dozen funerals in the church. No one ever asked about the body.

[caww]

.....” It makes no sense to me”.....

They're used as a cash cow....people show up to view these dead objects as if they

have mystical power, or just for the side show. I couldn't get over some people

actually “kiss” these decaying objects or the vials of their blood!

[boatbums]

Planning the funeral for my Dad, the Catholic church was very particular on the state and completeness of the body. Then they tear apart the corpses of saints and run around worshipping the parts. It makes no sense to me.

The sale of religious "relics" and artifacts used to be big business. A WHOLE heart??? Some churches count themselves extremely lucky to get a pinky toe or a hangnail of some saint! Superstition and gullibility keep things going in that line.